Entrepreneurs

In my line, i deal with a lot of entrepreneurs with me being one of those aspiring entrepreneurs.

without prejudicing myself, i have come to the conclusion that in my small circle of entrepreneurs that i have come in contact with, a lot tend to overvalue their companies and technologies. Sometimes it's good, but most times it starves the company of needed investment.

because i am both on the buy (entrepreneurs)and sell (investor) side, i see a disconnect between the 2, which makes life interesting and difficult.

how do investor value a company? There are known methods like pe multiples, discounted cash flow etc. Of course there is a premium on technology but you'd be surprised how much (or little) that premium is. Customer orders, unless it's already in hand means zilch in calculating the value of the company. Counting on the future does not manage the risk.

on the other hand, entepreneurs tend of overweigh on the utility of their technology, and also potential customer orders, and thus value their company accordingly. And also some of them hang out for 'name-brand' investors.

sometimes, the gulf isn't too big that it cannot be bridged, and most of the time, it.s not even worth putting in the effort to close the gap.

the reality is that in the land of the have and have-nots, the haves win it, and unfortunately, the investors hold a commodity that the entrepreneurs desire: money, thus relegating entrepreneurs to the have-nots category.

and if you can get an investor interested enough to to listen past the first 10 minutes, the entrepreneur should take any offer or advice being given seriously.

in singapore, both side have a lot to learn though.

n


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Ren ci

I read with dismay the recent revelation on the possble wrong doing of the venerable ming yi and the ren ci organization.

assuming he is convicted of the said wrong doing, and i will be very dissapointed with him, as a buddhist and as a person. As a person belonging to the sangha (or the clothe), he is expected to hold himself higher than the rest of us. This is important because how else then can he impart the dhamma to the rest of the people?

leading by example is key. If me as a layman sees a monk abusing his role as a monk and community leader, then what sort of morals will that imply to me.

sadly he is not the first and neither will he be the last, which is why i believe in monks and people joining any reigious order take a vow of poverty, but even that did not stop joseph kang where a vow of poverty was explict.

does that mean more policing, or forcing all religious trusts and charities to submit to audtng on a yearly basis? While i believe the these people will reap what they sow (karma), i think they should be audited yearly to mantain the public's trust.

to


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Anwar arrested

Is this a prelude to crowd problems in malaysia? Judging from history, the presumptive answer would be yes.

but can malaysia and the surrounding countries afford it? The answer is no.

is this also a prelude to the government suspending the constitution and declare an emergency if they can't put a lid on the public outcry?

i dread the answer.

there's no need to accuse foreign powers of trying to undermine the country, the ruling party is pretty successful in doing that all by themselves.

it is times like this that make you go " LKY was a freakin genius when singapore gained independence!"


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Tough Job Market

I have been sniffing around for possible job openings, and although there have been many "let's do it", but none yet has returned with a firm commitment to hire me.

And if I want to get into the Financial sector, I understand that industry is slowing down rather rapidly due to the tepid markets since the sub-prime blowout, and now sky-high energy prices.

So for the moment, I will continue doing my freelance project with the hopes that at least one or 2 of them will materialize in some sort of monetary rewards.

What a shitty time to be "in between jobs

Conspiracies abound

I read with alarm the latest SD twist afflicting malaysia.

the indian pi who is at the center of the controversy has gone missing with his family. Not unexpected is it?

the internet media is buzzing with the news, and to me, it lend credence that there is a conspiracy behind all this, be it from the government or the pr front.

with such maneuvours, how is one to distill which is the truth when everything is so muddied. How is the country going to drag itself out of the funk? The people, i feel, no longer trusts the government institutions meant to police the government because there is no proper separation in reporting?

come on, we all know the judiaciary is not independent and neither is the aca, and these are the main 2 institutions meant to provide the check and balance.

i salute those still trying to live their lives in malaysia and fight for their principles. I hope soon, makkal sakthi will prevail and justice served to those have wronged and those who have been wronged.


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Malaysian heat is risng

The news headline on the screen shouts: malaysia troops may be used to help with quell the protes, or someting to that effect.

if that occured, it wuld beunprecedented and would relegate malaysia to an iron state.

since the emergency, i can't recall if troops have been used against civlians, and it is thoughti shudder at.

but instead of calming the population down, musa hitam is turningup the heat, which is contrary against convetional wisdom.

the saga continues


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Aiyoh so drame aka malaysian politics

I have come to the realization that watching malaysian politics is much more interesting compared to watching soap operas.

the plot is even more sordid than dynasty or dallas in their peak season.

what will happen next? My worst fear is another may 13, this time it will not be inter-racial but intra-racial.

let's hope cooler heads prevail, but in a country where there is effectively no separation of court and state ie check and balance, determining the truth will be harder than mulder trying to solve the x-files.


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How prophetic - anwar ibrahim

When i wrote this morning about the BN spin meisters turning to singapore to be their whipping boys in the event the tide turns against them vs anwar???

well one of the pkr people just said that a neighboring country is feeding them intelligence about potential assasination attempts on anwar.

well, what more justification do the spin miesters need to start another to keep the pressure off aab amd ntr?

self fulfilling prophecy?? My guess is as good as yours!


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Nitpicking

I caught a glimpse of an ST forum letter that was published over the weekend, where the writer alledge (sp?) that the upcoming circle line does not benefit the western population, because it links to the north-south line at ang mo kio and does not pass through orchard.

i'd say this write is not really objective about the whole matter and is just putting his/her shopping hat on. The line passes buena vista, and will be the main conduit for people travelling to fusionopolis and nuh/nus, and that to me is benefit enough.

if he had travelled through the london tube he will also have noticed that not all lines mirror the circle line, and people live with it. If you happen to live close to the circle line tube stations, lucky you, else transfer like everyone else.

then on the other end of the spectrum is my beloved penang. It can't seem to get out of a funk. Anyone who has been to penang islan will bitch about its public tranport system and the haphazard traffic woes.

a rail system is needed, no doubt about it, and i beg to differ that it does not benefit the people. Yes it does as much research have noted that the cost of doing business increases with traffic jams, and penang need to get its act right to maintain the inward investments. So i don't this there is any choice to this.

but how do you convince the private sector to participate? Definitely not when there is the potential of the federaland state government going to court to resolve jurisdiction. Until there is actual agreements btw the federal and state, i believe that this project is dead.

another sign that patronage driven politics is depriving malaysia of needed development, and pampered singaporean residents will only want public transport if it takes them from their front door to wherever they want to go.

opps that's called a cab!


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Villification of anwar ibrahim

Most of us would have been glued to the various news channels over the weekend after news broke that anwar ibrahim sodomized another guy.

my impression: c'mon guys this is getting old, and soooo uncreative. To the spin doctors of BN, you should employ good screenwriters to do the plot and scripts because its more interesting on the idiot box.

why do i think this is a character and olitical assination? Because:
1. He would done so in prison and word would have leaked out.
2. Since he has been overseas quite often, anyone with half a brain would have done the deed overseas where discretion would be easier to obtain.
3. Why would he have done the deed in KL where everyone recognizes him. Did he not learn from the past experience himself, and that of chua soi lek?

and to this saiful, the world in which we live in is far different from that when anwar was first caught. The internets is far more wide-spread and now, there's alternative news channels, be it they spread the truth or lies (the same could be said of malaysia's traditional news papers and networks)

i see this as a desperate measure to take the pressure off aab and ntr + wife, using the familiar tactic: create anoter fire elsewhere as people like sensationalistic news. Believe me, if thus anwar issue is put out quickly, singapore beware and the spin miester will surely find fault with the country.

silly silly. Wonder why the people of malaysia vote anyways? Might as well vote some actors into parliment.


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